High On Candy Crush, King Is Intent On Hiring, But Share Prices Dangle

Candy Crush Saga owner and developer King Digital Entertainment (King) has apparently started to hire intently.

With an intention to expand the team for rapid development of games with the potential of Candy Crush Saga and Pet Rescue Saga, King is about to initiate a hiring session that will eventually see addition of 25% of its current employee strength. It has 165 job openings currently listed for its development locations in North America, Europe, and Asia, reportedVentureBeat.

King wants to rapidly scale–up after having tasted success at the App Stores as well as the Stock Markets. King is currently valued at around US$ 6.31 Billion. However, majority of that money is due to the success garnered by the publisher’s most famous offering, the Candy Crush Saga. The free-to-play puzzler game was so popular that it made more money than any other iOS app last year.

Candy Crush is one of the simplest, yet most addictive puzzler games. It requires players to match up similar looking candies to eliminate them. Higher levels require speed, accuracy and forethought to successfully complete the increasing complex tasks within a specified time–frame to move ahead. There are many in–game contents that can be purchased.

The immense success of Candy Crush might be the primary reason King decided to stake itself at the Stock Market and listed the company under the KING symbol. The bet proved beneficial and King raised US$ 500 million in its March 26 Initial Public Offering (IPO), which introduced its shares for trading at US$ 22.50 on the New York Stock Exchange (NSE).

Though King has about 150 Million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) majorly due to candy Crush, the company isn’t doing so well on the Stock Markets. After being listed at $22.50, it quickly plummeted to $20.15. Currently the share price of King is somewhere near US$ 19.50, which is about 14% below the initial stock listing price, reportedYahoo Finance.

This begs the question; is King a one–hit wonder? The answer is certainly not easy; however the company is clearly laying the groundwork. With additional manpower that King can afford with the recently raised liquidity, the game maker can churn out more games. But if one looks closely at the way King has developed Candy Crush Saga, it will be clear that the company is more about carefully studying the players than making newer games.

King’s IPO filing reveals that the company made US$ 2 Billion in revenue and profits. The only question now is how long Candy Crush will continue generating moolah and evidently the company is thinking beyond the game.